A D-Day commemoration demonstration at Hamilton International Airport nearly ended in disaster.
Police say they responded to a call at 3:00 p.m. Thursday regarding a mishap involving a skydiver’s parachute.
A 44-year-old Toronto man jumped at 2,000 feet during the planned demonstration, when police say “his main chute appeared to get tangled.”
An early investigation alleges the man’s secondary also, did not open properly, but “slowed his fall at around 100 feet, ” police said.
He was transported to the hospital with a serious leg injury.
Fred Vermeer, who’s an aircraft fueler at the Hamilton airport, captured video of the incident on his mobile phone, said he felt sick to his stomach watching the skydiver plummet to the ground.
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“I spent the remainder of my shift all shaken up, sick to my stomach,” said Vermeer, “I was reasonably sure I had witnessed someone die.”
Hamilton police say the skydiver was an experienced diver with credentials from the United States Parachuting Association.
Transport Canada has been notified of the accident.
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